Network Security
Network security spans firewalls, intrusion and DDoS protection, secure web gateways and zero-trust network access, delivered through appliances, cloud-delivered services and edge networks. The dossier shows a crowded field with heavy product overlap, steady investment in AI-agent security, and reported growth at Fastly, Zscaler and Netskope. The main constraints are exploitable flaws in security products themselves, export controls on encryption, geopolitical exposure and a regulatory load that is still growing. Zero-trust spending policy, the shift from perimeter to software-defined controls and credential-harvesting campaigns against firewalls are the external signals to watch, and none of them is yet confirmed internally.
Active institutional exposure flipped from a net outflow of $28.4 billion in Q1 2026 to a net inflow of $3.0 billion in Q2 2026. 64.9% of companies in this sub-theme saw increased active positions in Q2 2026.
Overview
Network security covers the controls that inspect, filter and authorize traffic between users, devices, applications and networks: firewalls, intrusion detection and prevention, DDoS mitigation, web application and API protection, secure web gateways and zero-trust network access (ZTNA). The sub-theme has several participant types. Broad platform vendors (Palo Alto Networks, Fortinet, Check Point Software Technologies, Cisco) compete across enterprise network security. Cloud-delivered security vendors (Zscaler, Netskope) compete with them and with each other in secure web gateway and ZTNA, alongside Cloudflare, Cato Networks and VirnetX. Edge and application-delivery specialists (Akamai, Cloudflare, Fastly, F5, Radware, A10 Networks, NetScout) compete across web application firewall, bot detection, API protection and DDoS mitigation. Adjacent vendors in endpoint, vulnerability management and observability (CrowdStrike, SentinelOne, Qualys, Tenable, Rapid7, Dynatrace, Datadog) overlap at the edges and are often integration partners. Hyperscalers such as Microsoft and Alphabet compete in selected product areas while also acting as channel and cloud partners. Distribution relies on resellers, distributors and system integrators, and on technology alliances in which vendors build integrations with identity, cloud and networking platforms. Products that incorporate encryption are subject to export licensing, and hardware-based offerings depend on contract manufacturing and component supply chains. Revenue is typically recurring subscription or support revenue attached to security policy, threat intelligence and ongoing service delivery.
Investment Thesis
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Bottleneck Tracker
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Key Companies
Related Events
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